CURRICULUM

CURRICULUM

Each day, children 2-5 years of age at Carebear Preschool receive an enriched learning experience as they participate in the following curriculum. Our classrooms are staffed by teachers who do more than guide and encourage your child; they provide tools that teach your child to think for him or herself with confidence. They are creating a place for a child to feel eager about their educational experience.

PROMETHEAN BOARDS

We feature the Promethean Interactive Whiteboards to further your child’s learning journey into today’s high tech world!

MUSIC

Students experience music & movement, musical instruments, and singing. We use the MMM curriculum as music but also, we integrate it throughout our math, science, social studies, phonics and Spanish curriculum. Our staff members are trained instructors in MMM and receive ongoing training as new materials are made available. For more information about this program, visit us at MMMKids.com.

HANDWRITING WITHOUT TEARS

This program enhances the child’s well being and school readiness. It builds pre-reading/writing foundation skills and identifies developmental stages for handwriting. For additional information, please click here.

PE

Physical education is an important component of a child’s development. Students experience physical fitness through games, dance and music and movement activities. Our activities are structured to develop multiple skills (locomotion, body control, and object control). We have state-of-the-art playgrounds and splash pad.

READING &BOB BOOKS

Bob Books were developed as a step-by-step program to guide children through the early stages of reading. We need phonics to teach the child how words sound. Bob Books begin with simple phonetic patterns and add more variation as the child becomes more fluent. Since reading fluency can only be achieved when the child learns to recognize the word as a whole rather than just through sounding out, our teacher practice these books with your child and encourage you to have copies at home for practice. Also, our language is not totally phonetic and many words do not follow phonic rules, so they need to be memorized. These SIGHT words are taught in conjunction with the books being read. We also utilize The Magic of Bob Books as a great discovery of reading program in our 4’s and pre-k classes.

SPEECHERCISE

The Speechercise curriculum is one of the tools we use to teach phonics with all ages of our students. We incorporate it across the curriculum to address issues related to speech delays, etc., and to improve the clarity of pronunciation for all of our students. We teach the letter sounds as a motor skill as well as an auditory skill. Speechercise encourages language in a multi-sensory way, focusing on feel and sight in addition to hearing. This is a national award winning curriculum used by many speech therapists in working with toddlers through school-aged children. Our students love the catchy songs and the fun facial exercises!

PHONICS

Phonics is an essential part of our pre-reading activities. Phonics skills play an important role in helping a child become fluent reader. Systematic, explicit phonics instruction improves children’s word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension skills. Teachers work on phonics daily through active learning such as letter building, zoo phonics, music & movement, sound matching games, stories and songs.

SCHOLASTIC MAGAZINE

Scholastic Classroom Magazines help students practice their reading and analytical skills as well as address issues which are relevant to both their academic and personal lives. Perhaps equally important, magazines are great for motivating children to want to learn! 4 year old students receive the Let’s Find Out Scholastic magazine twice a month and 3 year olds get the Clifford Scholastic magazine twice a month. For additional information, please click here.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Our language arts curriculum utilizes the Arizona State Standards for Early Learners. It addresses five knowledge areas: oral language, phonological awareness, concepts of print, knowledge of the alphabet and writing, and comprehension.

MATH

Our math curriculum uses the Arizona State Standards for Early Learners. With the aid of hands on manipulatives children practice: writing, recognizing, and counting numbers, graphing, sorting, and adding. Hands-On Standards offers engaging lessons so students can visualize math concepts. Children learn problem solving through hands on learning that links to their daily lives. Hands-On Standards has five sections: Numbers and Operations, Geometry, Algebra, Measurement and Data Analysis and Probability. These are based on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) contact strands. This program has an on-line extension. Lessons are taught in both whole group and small group. The lessons are taught using manipulatives. These tools make learning meaningful, helping children connect to the different types of knowledge.

CIRCLE TIME

Circle time is a time to reinforce the preschool fundamentals: Colors, shapes, letters, numbers, days of the week, and months of the year. The students enjoy music and movement activities that encourage imagination and use of gross motor skills. Children enjoy learning through music. We teach phonics, counting, and color words with fun and engaging songs. This is also a time to read engaging stories that stimulate the children’s imagination and inspire questions. Circle time strengthens communication and problem solving skills while children learn to cooperate with others. Participation in this large group activity builds confidence and self-esteem.

SCIENCE

Science for young children can be exciting. We take advantage of a child’s curiosity and reinforce this through hands on experiments with our, Hands-On Standards Curriculum. This curriculum builds students’ mastery of science process skills. The lessons are based on the National Science Education (NSE) Content Standards philosophy of learning through inquiry. Hands-On investigations are accompanied by user-friendly, step-by-step lessons. Students will observe, communicate, estimate and measure, and classify. We also promote this by using sand and water tables, butterflies, frogs, fish, classroom animal care, gardening, nutrition, bugs, sea life, and dinosaurs.

SPANISH

The course will be divided into modules that address familiar themes and vocabulary and allow students to begin to understand and communicate basic concepts. These concepts and vocabulary will then be revisited and incorporated into successive sessions, building a foundation for further learning. Each class will contain a maximum of 12 students to ensure that each student is getting opportunities to participate and practice the language during the activities. Click here for class times..

SHOW & TELL

Show and tell is a favorite activity. Students are allowed to bring a special item to share with their classmates. This activity encourages sharing and verbal skills. Sharing personal items and experiences provides an opportunity to practice their story telling skills. Teachers encourage conversation and questions during this time. It is an opportunity to improve vocabulary through use of descriptive words. Students practice speaking clearly and listening attentively. Students gain confidence while speaking in front of a group.

FREE TIME ACTIVITIES

Free time is a time for students to make free choices and explore the classroom and use their imagination. They can manipulate and study toys to gain an understanding of how parts make up a whole. They learn about shapes, colors, sizes, and textures. Students can choose from: Duplo blocks, trains, dress-up, doll house, house keeping, puzzles, cars, dinosaurs, computers, art table, and sensory table. During this time children work on sharing and socializing with friends. Play provides time to learn valuable skills such as, problem solving, cooperation, team work, and fair play.

CLEAN UP TIME

Children learn to pick up their toys and place in pre-marked bins and shelves. This will promote confidence in their organizational skills and ownership of their classroom.

TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

Carebear Preschool is keeping up with current trends in technology. Traditional classroom instruction is balanced with the latest educational based Hi-Tec tools. Student learning is complimented and enhanced by access to Mac Books, iPads and Promethean Boards. Each classroom at Carebear Preschool is equipped with this technology. iPads offer Apps with endless enjoyable educational opportunities. The iPad can help students master skills and different levels and are used in Carebears learning centers. Students can learn to read, practice writing and improve math skills through interactive games and books. Mac Books are available to the students for hands on computer experience in the classroom. The students have access to educational programs and receive hands on instructions. Promethium Boards bring advanced child friendly technology into the classroom. The interactive white boards engage students in interactive learning games, educational videos, and bring music to life with vivid imagery. Students interact with the boards using a stylus pen. The boards connect to your computer and anything your computer can do, can be done on a large scale projected onto the interactive white board. Promethean Boards come with a program called, Active Inspire. Through Active Inspire students can practice handwriting, and create colorful works of art directly on the board. Interactive white board books make learning to read a more active classroom experience for busy energetic young learners. These boards are an amazing classroom asset that students line up to learn on. Becoming comfortable using technology at the preschool level benefits students as they enter a technologically advanced future.

PRINT RICH ENVIRONMENT

Our classrooms are filled with letters, numbers, words, pictures, and labels to assist each child’s growing literacy. By viewing these printed materials, they are able to make a connection between the verbal and visual questions.

PORTFOLIOS

Samplings of each child’s work is kept in our classrooms and are maintained throughout the school year. They are shared during conferences or classroom visits. In May, we will send these materials home for your keepsake.

ARTS & CRAFTS

We provide an exciting hands-on multi-cultural experience with our arts and crafts projects. This includes cutting and pasting, painting, collage, puppets, picture frames, animals, magnets, sand art, markers, drawing, and water color. We encourage adventure and creativity along with a child’s imagination!